Army will come up to nation’s expectations: Raheel

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif visited a training area near Pabbi on Monday and witnessed the concluding ceremony of Pakistan Army Team Spirit competition.

The team spirit matches were held in the mountainous terrain near Mangla from March 31 to April 4.

Apart from teams from all the corps of Pakistan Army, Sri Lankan Army team participated in the competition. Sixteen officers from six countries, including China, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan and the Maldives, attended the competition as observers.

The team spirit competition is aimed at testing survival skills and physical endurance spread over 72 hours which include 23 field events.

The COAS highlighted the importance of physical fitness and spirit of team work. He said that confronted with multifarious challenges in diverse terrain, the Pakistan Army has to be in the best physical and mental fitness for a robust and prompt response.

“Add to this the spirit of sacrifice and patriotism, [and] it makes us the most formidable force in the face of any adversity,” he said.

According to a press release, the COAS said that unflinching faith of “entire Pakistani nation in our armed forces is our real asset and we will Insha Allah always come up to the expectations of our nation”.

He thanked all foreign guests and the Sri Lankan troops for being part of the event and for showing their prowess.

The COAS awarded medals and prizes to the winners. Mangla Corps team won the gold medal while Southern Command and Sri Lankan team shared the Silver medal.

Earlier, on arrival in the training area the army chief was received by Lt Gen Javed Qamar Bajwa.